So we've all seen them, right? The photos of people with the a similar phrase on it, "I'm looking for (place common name here), will you tell him/her I'm waiting?" I won't glorifying the passing around and making fun of actual human beings by giving you a visual example, but if you've been on Facebook for the past two to three days, you've probably seen these memes. The idea is that these people are less than attractive for some reason and by tagging your friend to the picture, you jokingly express that your friend is also unattractive. At the first few, I just rolled my eyes. Then the more I saw, the more annoyed I felt. I was never shocked, I had just forgotten that some people lack creativity or even an ounce of respect for others.
No matter how you describe it and no matter what justification you may create, this is not okay. In the most blatant form of human indecency, sharers and creators of these images have decided that the people displayed are unworthy of the common person's respect. What makes these memes seem like an act of a respectable person to share?
Notice I keep saying "people", because that is exactly what they are. Imagine waking up on a cold Sunday morning, pouring yourself some delicious coffee, and opening your laptop to check your social media accounts when you run across a photo of yourself being used as a viral joke. I can hear it now, the expressions of "It was just a joke." or "Don't take it personally." or even "You weren't in the pictures, why should you care?". To answer that last one: Human beings should be treated as such and should never be counted as less because of someone else's ignorance and/or lack of consideration.
We have come so far as the human race to propel the very important concepts of equality and human worth, but now common-place and adolescent-stage bullying is pulling us so much farther back. Why? Because the general population's ability to produce laughs through the internet has been reduced to bullying, because no one can come up with any actually funny content anymore.
Note: Quality comedic content is not going to be found at the expense of someone's dignity.
